How I Use Annotation Tabs While Reading

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Good Morning, Lovelies!

I just finished annotating my first book ever! I'm so excited about finishing it and enjoyed the process entirely so, I felt the need to share my experience, resources and what I learned from the process. If it inspires you to dive deeper into your next book, great! 

Resources for Book Notations

I kept seeing readers and book-stagrams with beautiful tabs in their books and loved how it looked, but wanted to know more. I was curious what they were doing with the tabs. I learned that readers were annotating their favorite parts, memorable scenes and more. I instantly wanted to try it. Consider me influenced! Plus, the sticky tabs are just so cute! 

I ordered these sticky tabs on Amazon (without reading the title I ordered 1,400. Oops!) They came on plastic divider sheets that hook into a notebook. Side note: I'm still looking for a notebook that they'll work with so for now I store them in a pen case. 

Then, researched how, what, when, anything I could learn about notating a book. I found this blog to be the most helpful out of a handful of resources. It was a quick read and the FAQs were very helpful. The process was simpler than I expected.

What Worked For Me

If you've been following me for awhile, you know I love Pinterest so, naturally I logged on to Pinterest to find inspiration for the topics I wanted to notate. I found a lot of them but, what worked for me was choosing topics that fit the genre of my book. Some topics might be universal but some may not. I recommend choosing topics that go with the book genre, or you'll end up with unused colors if the topic doesn't fit the genre. 

Secondly, I set the topics for each colored tab and keep them inside the cover of the book. I've seen where readers write on the inside cover, but I can't bring myself to write in books. Instead I made a sheet with my topics and tabs on it and used washi tape (for easy removal, if desired) to add it into the front cover. I referenced it often through the book until I memorized my topic colors so having it right there with me was perfect. This worked really well.

 

Is Notating A Book Distracting?

At the beginning I was curious if notating a book would be distracting. A few of friends reached out and asked the same thing. I quickly learned that reading a few pages or a chapter and then returning to the chapter to notate worked for me. I opened this book with the intention of not being distracted by the process so I kept that in mind through the book. Once I got the hang of it I didn't find the process distracting at all. 

I do want to mention that there were a few times I was really into the book where notating left my mind and I would re-read the chapter to add tabs to my favorite parts. Getting lost in a good book is really fun so if you do the same there's no judgement here. I believe the process will unfold differently for each person.

What I Learned

One thing I learned from my first experience of notating with tabs is that I pay closer attention to the details, how the author builds a scene and characters. I found myself wondering more often if certain events or things hold significance. I enjoyed this deeper dive and got more out of the book. 

I meet with my book club on Sunday to discuss this book and I'm curious to see if my tabs will be helpful or hold meaning as we discuss it. I notated several romantic scenes, funny scenes and character developments that I hope come in handy during discussion.

If you'd like to try book tabs I recommend just enjoying the experience and make the experience your own. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

- Karlee

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